If it’s March, it must be Izzo time.
When the 72nd NCAA men’s basketball tournament begins in 10 days, almost no active coach can match the 11-year run of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, whose Spartans also claimed a share of their sixth Big Ten regular-season crown during that span Sunday.
Beginning in 1999, Izzo teams have reached five Final Fours, won the championship in 2000 and appeared in all 11 NCAA tournaments.
Among his contemporaries, only North Carolina’s Roy Williams betters that: He has five Final Fours and two titles. Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun has won two national titles in three Final Four runs since 1999, as has Florida’s Billy Donovan.
But Donovan’s Gators have missed the last two NCAA tourneys and are in danger of sitting out a third straight. Calhoun’s Huskies also are perilously close to landing in the NIT after being knocked out of last year’s Final Four by Izzo’s squad. And North Carolina, now 16-15, may need to fall back on its reputation to receive even an NIT bid.
Not that Izzo is bragging. Instead, he said Sunday of the continued fattening of his resume, “I keep track of national championships, and I want more of those.”
After early-season losses to Florida, North Carolina and Texas and a midseason swoon — the Spartans lost three straight games when junior point guard Kalin Lucas was hobbled by a sprained ankle — the 55-year-old Izzo just might get his wish. Now 24-7 overall, MSU is back up to No. 11 in the Associated Press poll after beginning the season ranked second behind Kansas.
Moreover, 6-foot-8 senior forward Raymar Morgan, long the team’s most inconsistent weapon, has averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Spartans’ last four games, three of them victories.
As Lucas said after Morgan poured in a season-high 22 points in Sunday’s 64-48 humbling of Michigan: “If (Morgan) plays like he’s been playing lately, the sky’s the limit for us and we can get back to the Final Four.”
But Morgan’s maturity aside, it’s Lucas who best drives the Spartans, as his 14.9 points, four assists and 1.2 steals a game might indicate.
“I don’t know if you can completely defend Lucas,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said two weeks ago after his Buckeyes became the only Big Ten school to overcome MSU with Lucas healthy. “He is so good with the ball, makes great decisions and makes everyone around him better.”
The Spartans’ sheer numbers also can’t be ignored. As Illinois coach Bruce Weber noted after a recent loss to Izzo’s crew, “They have eight starters, and every day someone is giving them something special.”
Indeed, nine Spartans have started at least three games, including super sub Draymond Green, who leads them in rebounds with 8.1 per game and is fourth in scoring at 10.3 points. Seven players stand 6-8 or more, which may be one reason why the Spartans are out-rebounding opponents by more than nine rebounds a game and outscoring them by nearly 10 points.
They seem to be peaking at the right time.
“This team has struggled a little bit,” Izzo said after the regular-season finale against Michigan, “maybe embracing what we did last year instead of realizing every year is a new year with new things to shoot for and, more importantly, new people shooting at you.
“Right now we’re better than I give us credit for, but not as good as I think we can be. Somewhere in between is where we are right now. Are we going to vault forward or are we going to sink back?”
In that sense, the NCAA tourney10 days away, Izzo is pretty much like is 64 fellow coaches who will reach the Big Dance.